Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday quickly jumped aboard President Obama’s plan to impose stricter limits on emissions from power plants, vowing to be a third term of the Obama administration when it comes to fighting climate change.
“It’s a good plan, and as president, I’d defend it,” Mrs. Clinton said in a statement.
The former first lady, senator and secretary of state has adopted an aggressive stance on climate change and used the issue to rally liberal voters against her Republican rivals.
“It will need defending, because Republican doubters and defeatists — including every Republican candidate for president — won’t offer any credible solution,” Mrs. Clinton said. “The truth is, they don’t want one. They just keep making the same tired arguments they’ve been making for years. They refuse to accept science.”
She said Republicans “refuse to believe in American ingenuity and entrepreneurship, even though we’ve seen time and time again that a clean environment and a strong economy go hand-in-hand.”
Mr. Obama will announce Monday that he is finalizing proposed rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants and imposing sharper cuts than previously expected, according to the White House.
The initiative, dubbed the Clean Power Plan, likely will result in higher energy costs.
Mrs. Clinton said the new plan would only be the start of drastic changes to U.S. energy policies that are needed to combat climate change, which has been blamed for sever weather, rising ocean levels and increased cases of asthma.
“Of course, the Clean Power Plan standards set the floor, not the ceiling,” she said. “We can and must go further.”
She rolled out her own climate change agenda last month, promising that, if elected, she would make it her top priority upon taking office.
“As president, I will build on the work of this administration and make America a clean energy superpower and a global leader in the fight against climate change. That’s a promise,” she said.
Mrs. Clinton vowed to increase the number of solar panels in use by more than 500 million across the country by the end of her first term and set a 10-year goal of generating enough renewable energy to power every single home in America.
However, Mrs. Clinton came under fire for setting ambitious goals but leaving out details about how she would accomplish them, as well as for sidestepping hot-button issues such as the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, offshore oil drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
She promised to supply more details in the months ahead.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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